Mindy McCready's ex-boyfriend is hoping to regain custody of the former couple's son Zander, following the singer's shock death on Sunday.

Billy McKnight was previously embroiled in a bitter custody battle with McCready over their six-year-old son Zander, who was recently placed into foster care amid fears the star was unable to look after him and his younger half-brother, Zayne.

McCready was found dead at her home in Arkansas in an apparent suicide on Sunday, just weeks after her boyfriend David Wilson, Zayne's father, apparently took his own life last month.

McKnight has now spoken out about the tragedy and revealed he wants to take care of his little boy, telling America's Today show, "He (Zander) shouldn't have been taken from me to begin with...He has a happy home here (in Florida). I can provide for him. It's just been a really big mess and enough is enough. He's up there, all alone. He has no family in Arkansas. He has plenty of family who love him here..."

However, he does not know what the future holds for Zander's nine-month-old brother, insisting, "I don't know what is going to happen to Zayne...I would like to keep those boys being brothers together and try to turn my son's life around. He has had a rough first six years. He deserves better than this and my heart is broken for him right now. I'm very worried."

McKnight also reveals he wasn't shocked by his former partner's death because she has been struggling with personal problems for such a long time: "As sad as it is, it didn't come as a major shock. She's just been battling demons for so long. I was around her when she attempted suicide twice, so I knew it was in her... I feel for her mother and her family and especially my son, but I can't say that it shocked me, no."

Earlier this month, McCready was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric unit to treat mental health issues and her former partner fears she may have been released too soon.

He adds, "Perhaps staying in there and grieving...over the death of her fiance, could have calmed her down...She would have had to probably stay in somewhere for quite a long time until she really healed."